Town Government &
  Services:

Committees Home Page

Water Supply Committee

Meeting Minutes

Committees: Water Supply Committee

Water Supply Committee

2012 Annual Report

The Hingham Water Supply Committee was established by Town Meeting in 1946.  Its members are appointed by the Town Moderator.  Its original charter was to investigate the feasibility of acquiring the private water company then known as the Hingham Water Company, and to report to the Town on the costs and benefits of undertaking such a project.  That charter was revised by Town Meeting in 2004 to assign the Committee to monitor and report on water-supply matters more generally, including administration of the Town’s Water Supply Policy.  The Committee endeavors to perform these tasks in cooperation with the Aquarion Water Co., the Town’s current municipal water supplier. 

One of the Committee’s principal roles has been to serve as liaison between the private water company and Hingham town government.  In the months leading up to last year’s Town Meeting, in an effort to understand the swirling concerns about Aquarion’s operation of its public utility franchise, and in the context of a proposal by the Selectmen to seek funding for a feasibility study of acquiring the assets of Aquarion’s Hingham/Hull water district (which also includes a small number of customers located in Cohasset and Norwell)., the Committee met with Aquarion representatives, the Hingham Selectmen and Town Administrator, the Hull Town Administrator, the Cohasset Water Commission, past members of the Water Supply Committee, and the public.  At Town Meeting, the Town voted to approve a warrant article authorizing such a study, to be conducted by a separate Water Company Acquisition Study Committee, and appropriated $320,000 for this purpose.  (The last town-sponsored study was completed in 1985 -- three corporate owners ago and before construction of the water treatment facility.)  The detailed work of the study is expected to continue into next year.  The future of the Water Supply Committee and its relevant roles will depend largely upon the study’s eventual findings and the direction the Town then chooses to pursue.  In the meantime, the Committee will continue to assist the Town in matters pertaining to the town’s Water Supply Policy, and to monitor Aquarion’s ongoing operations within Hingham.

Last fall, Aquarion filed with the Department of Public Utilities to request an 8.2% rate decrease for its Hingham, Hull and North Cohasset customers.  This action was said to be linked to Aquarion’s refinancing of the long-term debt associated with the water treatment plant.  Aquarion also sought to implement the reduction immediately rather than to wait for the rate case to conclude.  The reduction, beginning November 2012, is expected to result in annual savings of approximately $66 for the average Hingham customer.  During the past year Aquarion also reemphasized its commitment to customer service.  This was reflected in top-level local personnel changes, acceleration of certain capital improvement projects, enhanced customer notifications and closer cooperation with Town administration.

The Water Supply Committee would like to recognize former members Thomas Burbank, Paul Cappers and (in particular) Roger Sullivan for their valuable service to the Committee.

James Connelly

Maureen Doran

Sam Mullin, Chair

Kirk Shilts, Secretary